"They're physical and fast and, even though in terms of technique or passing, they may not be as good as, say, Japan, they will still be tough opponents."

On Aug 5, the Under-23 team travelled to Manama, Bahrain to play the hosts in a last-gasp bid to convince the Singapore National Olympic Council (SNOC) they deserved a ticket to Incheon, and ended up beating the reigning Gulf Cup champions 3-2.

The SNOC initially excluded the footballers from the list of athletes travelling to the Asiad, but changed their mind after this result.

Yesterday, the Football Association of Singapore (FAS) announced that Bernd Stange, coach of the senior national team, will lead the U-23s in South Korea.

Aide Iskandar, who coaches the Courts Young Lions side that will form a significant portion of the Asian Games squad, will be Stange's assistant.

In the FAS release, Stange said: "Once again, I would like to thank the Singapore National Olympic Council for approving our selection for the Asian Games.

"This is a challenging draw, and Oman are the favourites to go through.

"Our players are raring to go after our training tour of Austria in July, and the win over Bahrain has also lifted their confidence.

"Taking part in a tournament like the Asian Games is important for the long-term development of our younger players.

"We aim to perform well in every game and, hopefully, do enough to progress to the next round."

Each team in the competition will be allowed to field three over-aged players.

FAS will announce Singapore's 25-man squad next week.

The U-23 team took part in the last two Asian Games in 2006 and 2010.

Both times, they got the green light after successful appeals to the SNOC, but exited at the first group stage.